Why Should Boys Have All The Fun?

Plot
Adventures of Three Musketeers in Thiruvanthapuram and Kanyakumari,
24th – 26th January 2009
*ing
A (Athos) working in Mysore
B, that’s me (Porthos) working in Bangalore
T (Aramis) doing PhD in Thiruvanthapuram
Supported by
P, doing engineering in Thiruvanthapuram
V chechi & H ettan, working in Thiruvanthapuram
G1 & G2, nephew & niece studying in Thiruvanthapuram

Planning
Christmas day, Palakkad – A, B along with P visited T. A and B disclosed about their London escapades to their younger cousins T and P. Out of the blue, they devised a plan to make a trip to Thiruvanthapuram since V chechi, her family, P and T were now based there.

The room was filled with sudden exhilaration and elation. The conversation took place as below.

T said “Thiruvanthapuram is a beautiful city. Why don’t you guys (A and B) come over? We can have some memorable time together.”

P was equally excited. She said “I would like to have food at Maurya. I am just waiting for an occasion to make a maiden visit there.”

B said “A, if you are fine, why don’t we visit them on January? We have a long weekend starting on the 24th.”

A said “That’s great. I am for the game, but need acquiescence from my Mom.”

When B conveyed to her Dad about the Girls (cousins) Days Out plan, he smiled, lifting the famous line from Mahabharata, he said “Shoot arrows instead of words!”

That reminded B about a conversation that she had with G, one of her closest associate. She had some plans to visit him in Mumbai which got foiled, thanks to Mr Kasab and team.

He said “B, is there something that you wanted to do 10 years back and didn’t do it?”

She thought for sometime and said “Yes, aplenty.”

He said “Don’t repeat it again. If you plan for something, execute it at once. Its way better than not even essaying it and repenting later, say 10 years down the line.”

In order to start the New Year on a promising note, B resolved not to have the plans go astray, went ahead and booked tickets for the arrival & return trips. She knew that 16 hr trip via bus is going to be too fatiguing, and train is the best option. To get train tickets in such a short notice was merely out of the question.


from left G1, V chechi, T, G2, B and A

Execution
January 23rd
A boarded a bus from Mysore to Bangalore, together with B left for Bommanhalli at about 6.15pm. To live up to the India Stretchable Timings construct, the bus started 1 hour after the scheduled departure time of 7pm.

A’s mom was not quite pleased with the decision of travelling by bus and she conveyed her displeasure at the nth hour. It didn’t dampen the spirits of A and B because they knew fun and frolic awaits them at Thiruvanthapuram.

Because of the last minute booking, A and B didn’t get seats next to each other. Girly sentiments do sometimes soften a guy’s heart. And it did. The guy henceforth called X who was sitting next to B agreed to exchange his seat with that of A.

At about 10pm, the bus stopped at Krishnagiri for dinner and loo visits. At A2B outlet, A and B gobbled ghee dosas followed by hot cup of dainty, aromatic coffee. Since A insisted that she needs to brush before she boards the bus, B gave in, in spite of the continuous honking by the bus driver. The look that the driver and co-passengers gave when A and B finally got on, can not be scripted in few lines.

At about 7 am, B woke up. She was comforted by the fact that the bus would reach its destination in 2 to 3 hours time. At about 8.30 when the bus stopped at Tirunelveli, X made her realize that the bus was 2 hours behind the normal schedule. She received a call from H’ettan asking her about her current co-ordinates. Meanwhile, A was woken up by a call from her home.

B continuously bugged X asking him about the time when the bus would actually arrive at Thiruvanthapuram. The bus finally reached the terminus at about 1 pm, 24th January.

A and B were dog-tired, but in hearts of heart they acknowledged the fact that they just had 2.5 days and it needs to be utilized to its zenith.

When B and X parted ways, he did ask her “Is it the first time you both are travelling to Thiruvanthapuram?” B said “Nope. We have been here before but this time its gonna be different.” Using this medium, B wants to convey “I don’t know who you are, what you do. Thank you for your remarkable tolerance and patience.”

January 24th
To be continued ...

Wise Versa?

The other day, my friend told me “B, you are not slim but thin.” All this while, I cogitated that slim and thin were synonyms, but her words proved otherwise.

Similarly, do you invite your friends for your marriage or for your wedding?

Watching a cinema in a movie hall or is it watching a movie in a cinema hall?

Whether an innocent man is naive or naive one innocent?

Also, some idioms/proverbs contradict each other. Take the following cases

Unity is strength or do too many cooks spoil the broth?

Slow and steady wins the race, but early bird catches the worm.

Actions speak louder than words, remember the pen is mightier than the sword.

Ignorance is bliss since little knowledge is a dangerous thing/empty vessels make the most noise, but something is always better than nothing.

Have you encountered such ridiculous riddles in words or in wisdom? If yes, write in.

Creativity At Its Best

I came across some incredible ads during recent times. Perfectly articulated, with hardly any ornamentation, this ad of Maggi truly stands out.


I would call this as a cleverly crafted, creative ad.

This animated ad of Mentos really caught my eyes, the Evolution theory tweaked and twisted.



Creativity is not just limited to ad world, even headlines are sometimes catchy, perfectly striking the chord with the vast, variegated readers. I am able to recollect couple of them like

Raju ban gaya conman – which described the ignominious fall of Mr Ramalinga Raju

An apple a day didn’t keep the doctor away – which reported Apple’s Steve Jobs suffering from hormonal imbalance

Is there something that struck you in a similar fashion and can be termed as "Creativity at its best"?

Slumdog Millionaire – A Bollywood story dealt by a Hollywood crew

American colleague of mine went gaga over Slumdog Millionaire, so I decided to watch it as well. Golden Globes win paved as yet another reason not to miss out on the movie.

It’s a normal rag to riches story where in the lead character Jamal played by Dev Patel participates in Kaun Banega Crorepati for the sole reason to get back his lost love, Lathika played by Freida Pinto.

The story commences with Jamal being in police custody where he is subjected to different tortures in order to figure out how a “Slumdog” like him is able to answer all the questions. Jamal colligates each question to instances in his life much to the surprise of the police played by Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla. Police releases him so that he can return to the show for the final question. Anil Kapoor plays Prem Kumar, the KBC host who tries to misguide Jamal in the end but Jamal triumphs. He gets Lathika back who all the while was pursuing the show.

The movie is based on a book Q and A by Vikas Swarup. It has indeed captured the life in Mumbai slums substantially well. All the lead characters have given their best shot. The sound track “Jai Ho” is quite catchy and will stay here for some more time.

Mr Amitabh Bachchan has recently slammed the movie saying that it depicted India in a poor light. Well, Mr Bachchan, slums do exist in India and it’s a ground reality. We do expect celebrities like you to come forth and lend a hand on noble causes instead of walking hand in hand with cretins like Mr Amar Singh.

Summing up, I give a thumbs up for this movie and its worth watching one time. The heroine is seen in yellow attire every time she meets the hero. Do reason it out and let me know as well.

Thirakkatha – A Lackluster Katha

I had been to Kerala on a long vacation and decided to catch up on some path breaking movies of 2008. One such movie which had lots of hoopla around it was Thirakkatha. It’s based on a true story of a yesteryear actress, late Srividya and an acting legend, our own Kamal Hassan. Story has been penned and directed by Renjith, known for his brilliant and aesthetic narration.

Priyamani dons the role of the actress Malavika, once a reigning box office queen, now a disgraced soul, whose current whereabouts are unknown. Anoop Menon plays a struggling actor Ajayachandran, now a reigning superstar, who had a romantic liaison with Malavika which ended in a brief nuptial.

A promising, new director Akbar played by Prithviraj is in search for an appealing and original plot for his next movie. The expectations from him are quite high since his debut movie was received stupendously by the audience and critics alike. He decides to make the love story between Malavika and Ajayachandran as the plot of his upcoming movie. As Akbar searches for Malavika, the love story between her and Ajayachandran unfolds as flashback. The meeting of these three characters forms the climax.

Overall, the story lacked depth and the characters not well etched. The climax too, was filmy and overdrawn. The national award winning actress Priyamani failed to impress. May be it’s her character which just failed to click. Anoop Menon was total miscast as Ajayachandran. His dialogue delivery reminded one of superstar Suresh Gopi during his “Commissioner” days. Prithviraj, though had a brief role, did complete justice as Akbar. His potential needs to be harnessed so that he can reach the leagues of Lalettan and Mamooka.

If you have plenty of time at your disposal or are insomniac, watch it.

Wishes

In this era of infidelity, indifference and commitment is just passé, they showed the world what love and care is all about. Cafe did get its branding right, for they met at a cafe and the initial spark happened over a coffee. The spark continues to glow brighter with each passing day. Their journey called togetherness has entered the fifth year today and that’s something that needs to be lauded.

Wishing C (D) and B (V) many more years of togetherness and may their ride continue to be zealous and zestful.

I have known him for nearly a decade now. He had taught me what friendship and loyalty is all about. Today, he is joining the elite club called thirty.

Wishing A a great day and a fantastic year ahead.

The Wait Was Worth It

She had been a good singer in her heydays. Currently, her certificates and mementos lay in a corner of a dusted room in her ancestral home. Irony is that her children have never heard her singing. They are not aware whether she has ever sung lullabies for them. They had to literally wait 3 decades to hear her sing and the long wait was indeed worth it!!!

Presenting a sample clip of this talented person to whom I am proudly associated as her youngest daughter.

http://music.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=402318

Trivia about an Anonymous Blogger

I have been blogging anonymously and thought of breaking the practice this year. It's better to make myself visible to others and the way to do it is to answer the questions that are regularly shot at people when met for the very first time.

It goes like this:-

Name: B.R.K
Age: Nearly 3 decades in Mother Earth
Hail From: God's own country
Favorite Color: The color of Tranquility
Favorite Cuisine: A true AQUArian, I love fish especially when they are fried
Favorite Quote: To Err is Human, to Forgive and Forget is Superhuman (my take on Alexander Pope’s quote)
Mostly Seen In: Kurti and Jeans, No makeup, Minimal jewelry
Prized Possessions: Dad, Mom, Sis, Bil & New
Interests: Activities that end with ING like Blogging, Reading, Travelling etc
Detest: The words starting with N as N denotes Negativity. Eg:- N for No, Nope, Never, None, Nothing, Nobody, Nonsense .. also, N for Nemesis
Future Plans: ----------------------
Bizzare Fact: Left hander by birth turned right hander by force

I hope I haven’t missed out anything here. If not sufficient, feel free to ask.